Healthy-ish Banana Oatmeal Cookies

I wish I could eat clean 24/7 but sometimes my sweet tooth gets the best of me. That’s totally okay! Eating clean doesn’t mean you can’t indulge every now and then. I would die without desserts… LITERALLY! Therefore, I spend a lot of my time creating healthier versions of the desserts I love. Stop restricting yourself & indulge just a bit!

The recipe to my Banana Oatmeal Cookies makes about 8 large cookies. I’m aware that 8 is a weird number- not even a full dozen, LOL!

Let me explain…

For about a year, I tried a bunch of different oatmeal cookie recipes. Each one had a different value to my taste buds. Some had a better texture than others. Some were softer than others. Some included healthier alternative ingredients. After all this experimenting, I came up with my own little concoction. Yes, I said the word concoction. Unfortunately, my concoction only creates 8 large cookies and it’s way too perfect to play around with multiplying and dividing ingredients to get the right measurement for 1 dozen. Who wants to do unnecessary math? NOT ME. If you make the cookies smaller, you could probably get 12 mini cookies out of the batter.

Anyways…

These Banana Oatmeal Cookies are so GOOD and the best part is that they aren’t even bad for you. This is a great way to satisfy a sweet tooth and not feel guilty afterwards. I personally don’t count calories anymore because I value ingredients for what each one taste like not how much each one is worth, if that makes any sense. There’s nothing wrong with counting calories. Everyone’s different and everyone uses different methods when dieting. But for the people who do calorie count, each cookie is only 100 calories. I swear that’s not a lot considering they are huge and are made from better ingredients then store bought cookies and definitely don’t contain a laundry list of chemicals and additives. QUALITY OVER QUANTITY BABY!

PEEP THAT TEXTURE

Healthy Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Serving Size: 8 large cookies

You will need:

1 cup steel cut oats

½ cup whole wheat flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup brown sugar

1 banana, smashed

1 teaspoon cinnamon (I personally love a lot of cinnamon so feel free to add less or more)

1 teaspoon extracts flavors (You can use anything you want. I usually use half pure vanilla extract and half hazelnut extract)

pinch of salt

1 egg

2 tablespoons coconut oil

3 tablespoons of dark chocolate chips (OPTIONAL)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combined coconut oil and brown sugar until fluffy.

Add egg, cinnamon, banana and extracts to the mixture.

In a separate bowl, mix together the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Fold in the dry mixture into the wet mixture. (It might be easier to use your hands to ensure everything is well combined)

Scoop out dough and place on a cookie sheet.

Place a few chocolate chips on top of each cookies before baking.

Bake for 12-14 minutes.

If you decide to make these cookies, I would love to hear your experience and what you thought about them. I am also open to hear any suggestions or tweeks you may have for healthier baking.